Samuel Ward, Jr.

Samuel Ward, Jr. (17 November 1756-6 August 1832) was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and a delegate to the Hartford Convention in 1814-1815, which considered the secession of New England from the United States.

American Revolutionary War
Samuel Ward, Jr. was born on 17 November 1756 was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, the son of colonial governor and Continental Congress delegate Samuel Ward. Ward graduated from Brown University with honors in 1771, becoming a militia captain in 1775 and serving under James Mitchell Varnum during the Siege of Boston. Ward volunteered in Christopher Greene's 250-strong Rhode Island continent during Benedict Arnold's invasion of Quebec in 1775, and on 31 December 1775 Ward was captured along with most of the other Rhode Islanders involved in the Battle of Quebec.

Ward was released in a prisoner exchange in 1776, and on 12 January 1777 he was promoted to Major of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, later rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Ward fought at the Battle of Red Bank under Greene in 1777 and the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778, and on 1 January 1781 he retired from the Continental Army after his regiment was disbanded by Congress.

Postwar life
After the war's end, Ward became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, and he became a merchant. He frequently traveled to Europe and Asia in this job, and in 1786 he attended the Annapolis Convention, the goal of which was to end trade barriers between the Middle States. In 1814, Ward was appointed as a delegate to the secessionist Hartford Convention, debating over the secession of New England during the War of 1812. He died in 1832 in New York City.